Chad box

ABSTRACT

1. A tape punch apparatus having a punch mechanism for punching information into a tape feeding from a tape roll comprising: A HOUSING UNIT HAVING AN UPPER AND LOWER SECTION LOCATED ABOVE EACH OTHER, A DRAWER MEANS LOCATED WITHIN SAID LOWER SECTION, SAID PUNCH MECHANISM LOCATED IN SAID UPPER SECTION, CHAD GUIDING MEANS, CONNECTING SAID UPPER SECTION TO SAID DRAWER MEANS, FOR GUIDING CHAD GENERATED BY THE OPERATION OF SAID PUNCH MECHANISM INTO SAID DRAWER MEANS, AND POSITIONING MEANS FOR LOCATING A TAPE ROLL WITHIN SAID DRAWER.

United States Patent Feldman Dec. 2, 1975 1 1 CHAD BOX Primary Examiner.1. M. Meister [75] Inventor Edward Feldman Teaneck NJ Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Stephen A. Roen; Norman Friedman; Robert F. Rotella [73] Assignee: Litton Business Systems, Inc.,

P k, NJ.

mebmo EXEMPLARY CLAIM 2 Fl (1: M 31,1975 [2 I I 6 ar 1. A tape punch apparatus havmg a punch mechanlsm 1 1 PP 563,672 for punching information into a tape feeding from a tape roll comprising: [52] U 8 Cl 234/128. 234/131. 83/167. a housing unit having an upper and lower section N 83/648 located above each other, [51] Int Cl 2 G06K U02 a drawer means located within said lower section, [58] Field of Search 234/128 131; 83/167, 649, said Punch mechanism mated Said uPPer 83/650 section, chad guiding means, connecting said upper section to said drawer means, for guiding [56] References Cited chad generated by the operation of said punch mechanism into said drawer means, and UNITED STATES PATENTS positioning means for locating a tape roll within said 3,484,824 12/1969 O'Connor 234 131 drawn 3,497,136 2/1970 Cerutti et a1 234/131 9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TO PUNCHING STATION LL, j J -,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,1 25 A. 2 A s 22 T -23 T B 1 US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Shea 1 of2 3,923,242

O PUNCHING STATION 8T 6 r 29 V/// A i v M I v --IJ'IIIIIII IIIIIIII1 Sheet 2 0f 2 US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 CHAD BOX BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Chad boxes used in high speed paper tape punch units have been developed but these have various shortcomings which affect their usefulness. These devices have employed a separate chad box mounted on the side of the housing of the high speed paper tape punch unit and a separate drawer in the lower section of the housing to mount a roll of paper tape. Unless the filled chad box is emptied of chad before a new roll of paper tape is inserted into the drawer, jamming of the punching mechanism may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improved high speed paper tape punch unit which is less susceptible of jamming.

A further object of this invention is toprovide a failsafe high speed paper tape punch unit which is not susceptible of jamming due to a full chad box.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a dual function drawer in a high speed paper tape punch unit which is simultaneously utilized to serve as a container for a roll of paper tape and as a chad box.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a mechanism in a high speed paper tape punch unit which requiresthat in order to load a new roll of tape therein, into a drawer, requires that the chad contained therein is emptied. These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished in the illustrative embodiment by providing, within a drawer positioned in the bottom portion of a high speed paper tape punch unit, a tray shaped chad recepticle, which faces a chad producing punching station, and whose flat bottom side engages a roll of paper tape as well as the spindle of a lower disc shaped element to form a spool around said paper tape roll, so that in order to replace the roll of paper tape with a new roll the tray shaped chad recepticle must be removed from the depleted paper tape roll and emptied before replacement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simplified perspective view ofa high speed tape punch unit having a drawer within which the combined chad box and paper punch tape assembly embodying the invention is located.

FIG. 2 is a simplified exploded cross-sectional view of a portion of the drawer and the combined chad boxand paper punch tape assembly, contained within it, taken across the lines AA and B-B of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 respectively, embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the tray shaped chad receptor of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a top view of the disc shaped element of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, wherein a conventional high speed paper tape punch unit 1 is illustrated having a combined chad box and paper tape drawer 3 embodying the present invention. The high speed paper tape punch unit 1 generally comprises the combined chad box and paper tape drawer 3, described in detail infra, in which a roll of paper tape, suitable for punching, is located and which paper tape 4 freely feeds through a slot 5 in the front portion of said combined chad box and paper tape drawer 3. Any paper tape suitable for punching can be utilized, including oiled paper, dry paper, metallized mylar, sandwich paper/mylar paper, polyester, etc. The paper tape 4 is fed through a paper tapeguide 7 to a paper" tape punch station 9 wherein a conventional punch mechanism (not shown) located within the housing of the high speed paper tape punch unit 1 punches the desired information, in the form of holes, into the paper tape 4, resulting in the formation of chad. Referring now also to FIG. 2, this punch mechanism is also located above and over the combined chad box and paper tape drawer 3 so that the chad generated by the punching of the tape 4 drops down from the punch mechanism, through a chad dispensing tube 6 to'an opening 8 leading into the upper portion of the drawer 3. The punched tape 4 is then fed through a series of tape guides l1, 13, 15, and 17 to a side mounted take-up reel 19. The combined chad box and paper tape drawer 3 comprises a conventional rectangular shaped drawer 20 which slides into a bottom section of the paper tape punch unit 1. Located within the drawer 20, near its bottom surface, is a thin, disc shaped element 21 having an upstanding, hexagonal shaped spindle 23 which is hollow and cylindrically shaped inside, located at its center, and which freely rotates on a fixed, conventional spindle 26 mounted on the bottom of the drawer 20. A roll of paper tape 22, whose inside diameter is greater than the diameter of the discs spindle 23, is loosely placed on the upper side of disc 21 so that its spindle 23 is at its center, and then a generally circular tray shaped hopper unit 25, having a hollow spindle 27 depending from its lower surface and upstanding vertical side 28, has its spindle 27 placed through the opening of the paper tape roll 22. Referring now also to FIG. 3, this hoppers spindle 27 comprises, on its outside surface, three integrally formed vertical spines 29, located apart from each other, and which, when it is placed over the roll of paper tape 22 engages its inside wall securely. The hollow center portion of the hoppers spindle 27 is hexagonally shaped. Referring now also to FIG. 4, the hollow hexagonally shaped center portion of the hoppers spindle 27 is conformed to securely engage the hexagonal shaped spindle 23 of the disc 21 thereby keying the two together so that when the paper tape 3 unwinds from the paper tape roll 22 as a'result of it being driven and punched, it rotates the chad hopper 25 which in turn drives the disc 21 through the hexagonal coupling. A generally, horizontally oriented, thin, rectangularly shaped vane element 29, fixedly secured to and depending from the undersurface of the top wall of the opening that the drawer 20 fits within, is positioned so that its lower edge is slightly above the height of the side 28 of the tray shaped hopper 25 and to the inside of its rim. When the paper tape roll 22 is properly engaged within the hopper 25 and disc 21, they together function as a feed spool for the paper tape. As the paper tape 4 is driven and punched at the punch station 9, the feed spool rotates and the chad generated by the punching operation drops into the tray portion of the hopper 25. The chad will tend to form an annular ring 31 in the tray of the hopper 25 and as its level builds up the bottom portion of the vane 29 will continually operate to level and horizontally expand this chad ring 31 so that it will eventually fully fill the tray of the hopper 25, thereby necessitating only a minimum depth requirement for the tray of the hopper 25. This also results in the overall height of the drawer 3 only being slightly increased by the utilization of the chad hopper 25.

The inventive feature of structurally requiring that the paper tape punch roll 22 first fit within the spindle of the hopper 25, in order for the paper tape roll 22 to be properly situated, requires a user to empty the built up chad every time a roll of paper tape is changed. This results in the hoppers capacity never being exceeded thereby obviating jamming of the punching mechanism due to chad build up. This is because the paper tape roll 22, in order to feed correctly, must properly engage the three vertical spines 29 of the hoppers spindle 27 rather than the discs spindle 23; otherwise the punch will not operate properly if the user attempts to use the paper tape reel 22 on the disc 21 without the hopper 25 first being properly engaged.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A tape punch apparatus having a punch mechanism for punching information into a tape feeding from a tape roll comprising:

a housing unit having an upper and lower section located above each other,

a drawer means located within said lower section,

v said punch mechanism located in said upper section, chad guiding means, connecting said upper section to said drawer means, for guiding chad generated by the operation of said punch mechanism into said drawer means, and

positioning means for locating a tape roll within said drawer.

2. The device according to claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises:

a first means for engaging said roll of tape, and

a second means for engaging said first means, to form a spool around said roll of tape.

3. The device according to claim 2 wherein said positioning means further includes spindle means for positioning said spool within said drawer.

4. The device according to claim 2 wherein said first means further includes receptor means, located below the end of said chad guiding means, for catching said chad falling therefrom.

5. The device according to claim 4 wherein said receptor means comprises a tray shaped member.

6. The device according to claim 5 further including third means, located in said lower section of said housing unit, for dispensing said chad within the confines of said tray shaped member.

7. The device according to claim 2 wherein said first means comprises a first and second concentrically located engaging means, said first engaging means having a larger outside diameter than said second engaging means.

8. The device according to claim 2 wherein said second means is disc shaped and has a spindle in the center thereof.

9. A combined tape roll spool and chad receptor for a tape punch apparatus comprising:

a first means, having one side for engaging a tape roll, and a second side being tray shaped for catching chad falling therein, and

a second means which is disc shaped, for engaging said first side of said first means to form a spool around said tape roll. 

1. A tape punch apparatus having a punch mechanism for punching information into a tape feeding from a tape roll comprising: a housing unit having an upper and lower section located above each other, a drawer means located within said lower section, said punch mechanism located in said upper section, chad guiding means, connecting said upper section to said drawer means, for guiding chad generated by the operation of said punch mechanism into said drawer means, and positioning means for locating a tape roll within said drawer.
 2. The device according to claim 1 wherein said positioning means comprises: a first means for engaging said roll of tape, and a second means for engaging said first means, to form a spool around said roll of tape.
 3. The device according to claim 2 wherein said positioning means further includes spindle means for positioning said spool within said drawer.
 4. The device according to claim 2 wherein said first means further includes receptor means, located below the end of said chad guiding means, for catching said chad falling therefrom.
 5. The device according to claim 4 wherein said receptor means comprises a tray shaped member.
 6. The device according to claim 5 further including third means, located in said lower section of said housing unit, for dispensing said chad within the confines of said tray shaped member.
 7. The device according to claim 2 wherein said first means comprises a first and second concentrically located engaging means, said first engaging means having a larger outside diameter than said second engaging means.
 8. The device according to claim 2 wherein said second means is disc shaped and has a spindle in the center thereof.
 9. A combined tape roll spool and chad receptor for a tape punch apparatus comprising: a first means, having one side for engaging a tape roll, and a second side being tray shaped for catching chad falling therein, and a second means which is disc shaped, for engaging said first side of said first means to form a spool around said tape roll. 